


It all starts with a date, even if it's fake

by HoldOnImConfused



Series: Being and becoming [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Chance Meetings, Fake Dating, First Dates, First Meetings, Flirting not flirting, Getting to Know Each Other, Holding Hands, Lori Grimes (mentioned) - Freeform, M/M, Merle Dixon (mentioned) - Freeform, Past Lori Grimes/Rick Grimes, dating 101, happy shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 18:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19874350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoldOnImConfused/pseuds/HoldOnImConfused
Summary: After a surprise call from Lori and her news of moving into town where she wants to meet up with Rick, they arrange a date to catch up and possibly re-blossom the romance they had shared back in high school. The only problem is that it doesn’t all go as planned.





	It all starts with a date, even if it's fake

**Author's Note:**

> Soo.. this just happened.  
> Was supposed to sleep but well, ended up writing half of this before I could even try, then I finished it throughout the day: I should be writing on other stuff and I should keep shit short, keep telling myself but it always end up being longer than I intend for it to be. Ah well, it was a fun piece to write so is all good
> 
> Apologies for any lingering errors, i've cleaned it once and then skimmed through it once more, but well, there will always be those errors who have mastered the task of evasion, or simply put I'm just blind after a while heh.  
> So here goes nothing.

Shit. Rick couldn’t believe he was actually being stood up by Lori. They had planned for dinner over a week ago after getting back in touch. She’d called him up after he hadn’t spoken to her since he moved from King County to Atlanta and just hearing her voice had brought up some lingering feelings from his high school era. They had talked for over an hour, not really about anything important except that she’d told him she was moving to the city, asked if he wanted to meet up with her and she’d thrilled when he’d asked her to dinner.

Over the week building up to his expected date he’d been so excited and not only because of the date, the week had overall been a good one and he’d even gotten a bonus check from his job. He’d gone out and bought himself a new suit, nothing too fancy and in simple dark fabric with little color to it, keeping it clean because he remembered Lori liked it neat and tidy and had liked it when he wore neutral clothes because then her own dark colorful ones would stark in contrast to him.

He’d arrived at the restaurant a good twenty minutes before they had been supposed to meet and in that time he’d managed to go to the bathroom three times to make sure his discreet tie sat neatly around his collar and down over his light grey button down shirt, making the almost black tie give the nice little touch he’d been sure she would have enjoyed. After wrestling with the nervous and mean acting butterflies in his stomach, finally giving himself a firm nod that yes his tie was perfectly placed, he’d gone to the reception to wait for her, claiming the table he had booked the day after they had talked.

At first he had figured she was late and he checked his phone but there had been no message, so he assumed she was driving there, stuck in traffic maybe and he’d taken his seat at the table before the staff would start to complain and explain that if he wasn’t going to dine there they would have to pass the table on and Rick was not letting that happen.

He’d pre-ordered a nice bottle of wine for the two of them and a carafe of water which came with two low glasses and the bottle of wine was presented with a pair of high feet cupped ones. Rick had started sipping on the water, trying to calm his nerves down but it did little to support him and simultaneously he tried to not drink too much because the last thing he wanted to do was excuse himself to the toilet when Lori did come. The problem was, even twenty minutes later Lori still wasn’t there.

Shit.

Rick couldn’t phantom why, he’d looked forward to it, she had too but she hadn’t come, maybe she still would but as the minutes kept creeping closer so did the whispers in his mind, she wasn’t going to. Rick had to ask the waitress for a second time to wait just a bit longer when she stopped by, trying to keep up a sweet and brave smile despite the faltering in his chest.

He hadn’t exactly had much of a love life since he’d moved to Atlanta and not that he liked to admit it, but he’d become one of those who were too focused on his or hers careers to even care, maybe he even gotten pretty close to the term “workaholic”. He’d casually met up with a girl once or twice, but it hadn’t become anything and he hadn’t even slept with them, for Rick it was all about the stability, the foundation of trust and love. They had, been strangers after all, given more time maybe they wouldn’t have been but it hadn’t clicked. When Lori had called however, he hadn’t hesitated.

“’s this seat taken?” Rick heard the gruff voice call as he nudged the glass of water with the tip of his finger, half bored and bummed out from Lori ditching him, he didn’t even have time to collect himself enough to answer, reject or whatever his brain would decide to do for him at the spot, before the man sat down at his on leisure.

“What.. wait who, why?” Rick knew it sounded like a mess, truthfully it was because there were all questions that were popping up at the same time and the last thing he had expected was for yet another stranger to casually sit down where his date, who he was supposed to know, was meant to be sitting right now, talking, laughing while they shared a meal. Instead he laid eyes on a half filthy man with a tan probably so in graved in his skin even if he spent twenty years in a cave it would still suffice under the term. His clothes were messy, his hair in greasy bangs which hadn’t been neatly cut at any barber or hair dresser in god, Rick didn’t even want to guess.

“Ain’t no reason ye should be eatin’ alone, felt bad.” The man said and weaved his hand smoothly over the table, insinuating just what it looked like, that Rick was there for a date it didn’t seem he was going to get.

“I’m Daryl, starvin’ too.” He continued after his little wave with his hand and he turned it, stretched forward for Rick to shake, who well, let’s say a quick explanation and an introduction was a little bit too shy on the time needed to bring him out of the _what_ part of his questions, just stared at it. The hand was smudged in dark spots and the scent that started to travel across to Rick’s side of the table was mechanical, oily and definitely not freshly showered and ready to eat at a semi fancy restaurant. Rick feared that at some point he’d have to shake off his suit like he was superman and reveal the Atlanta PD uniform to investigate the _mysterious murder of the misplaced customer_ featuring Daryl with a kitchen knife in his back. Well, it wasn’t like he had his uniform hidden under his clothes like a superhero anyway but the image in his head was clearly there.

“Rick, Rick Grimes.” He slowly said, feeling like a retard because his brain was still stuck on cooking up the plot for the mystery, yet his hand moved to shake the hand that had been offered like he was used to, body going on auto pilot after being raised to be polite, situations which did include proper introductions.

“Nice t’meet ya.” Daryl said and shook once before he let go, freely taking it upon himself to reach for the glass of water while Rick was slowly coming to the realization that he had.. at least he thought he had, somewhat accepted this change of plans sitting in front of him.

“Daryl I’m not..” He started but the man shook his head and moved his hand to stop Rick from talking, the gesture so sharp it almost had the water topple over the edge of the glass he’d been holding through the move.

“Ain’t like that, real ‘r anythin’. Ain’t no reason for ye bein’ stood up neither, so I’ll be yer date. Yea maybe I’s thinkin’ yer good lookin’ but yer not inta guys an’ I’m not lookin neither, so we ain’t got a problem, jus’ maybe a nice ‘n completely fake evenin’” Daryl said and Rick tried to keep his jaw in place, trying to measure if he was actually being hit on or if it was all pretending like the man, Daryl, had said, he concluded the whole sentence as a make belief evening which wasn’t real and that although the man apparently approved of Rick’s looks he was silently promising he wouldn’t make any moves on a straight guy. It was so fucked up, it was so surreal, it wasn’t happening, yet, it was funny and Rick laughed, because it was also kind of sweet.

“Ye kno’, we’ll do t’entire thing, talk ‘n when t’ check comes we’ll both wanna grab ‘t, insistin’ an’ then we’ll settle on splittin’. I’ll walk ye to yer car ‘cus I assume ye drove here fer the missy, then it’s bye bye. So this ‘s the part where we get t’kno’ each other seeing we already introduced ourselves.”

“Okay, fine.” Rick said smiling despite just a few minutes ago he’d been ready to get up, go home and disappear into his bed to never be seen again. Now on the other hand, ignoring the fact that had openly gotten hit on by a man because Daryl had clearly said he wasn’t looking, Rick had been promised the whole package even if it was all pretense and that it wasn’t Lori, it wasn’t even with some girl who could possibly become something more given the time. But that was most likely exactly why he agreed, the relaxed mood, shit he still had butterflies lazily dancing around in his belly but they weren’t going pro championship wrestlers anymore and Rick thought it could actually be fun.

Much to Rick’s suspicion, the waitress didn’t seem to approve of Daryl’s choice of attire, nor his personal hygiene status but she had probably had a long day and if she was lucky her shift was ending soon, so when it seemed she was going to take their order she seemed satisfied enough.

Daryl had ordered a piece of roast beef with herbal seasoning and grilled potatoes while Rick had opted for the oven grilled thyme and lemon salmon, served with a neat and refreshing salad and a tart dressing to enhance the combination. It amused Rick when Daryl had ordered, because it hadn’t taken more than his first impression to pin him as a heavy beef guy, which had him smiling like a fool when the waitress stopped by to open the bottle of wine and she’d been stopped shortly after picking the bottle up by the hand of Daryl catching her attention, the pitiful limb of smudge earning itself a mean glare which the man seemed to ignore. He had looked to Rick to make sure he was okay with opening the bottle he’d ordered when it was for the two of them and not for Rick and his intended date.

“It’s alright.” He’d replied and nodded toward the waitress who’d proceeded to remove the cork efficiently, releasing the sweet aroma of the wine before pouring a proper amount into the glasses. It was something different, watching the eyes across the table soften slightly at Rick’s offering and he noticed they were blue while he was at it, blue and pretty captivating, kind, and Rick even found them to be pretty warm.

“How did you know I was being stood up even?” He asked to continue their small talk and he wouldn’t lie about the question circling around his head, that there was the possibility of this guy being kind of fresh stalker he hadn’t known about and had in fact stared at him through the window for the past 40 minutes. Yeah right, okay well the thought was a little scary so he had to ask.

“I’s really jus’ gettin’n my way from work, had t’pick up sum beer ‘n new undies ‘cus m’brother keep’s jerkin’ too much‘n his, wearin’ holes all over ‘em an’ then ends up borrowin’ mine, so’s my stash be runnin’ low.” Daryl started, taking a short pause to taste at the wine, his eyes hooding in the process of appreciation to the flavor of it, the tip of his tongue gently swiping at his lips one short lapse to savor the flavor and yes, shit, Rick caught himself looking at that while enjoying the all too honest explanation, get a fucking grip Rick Grimes.

“Stopped right outside ‘cus I’s starvin’, ain’t really no place I go to but food’s food, saw ye sitting there ‘fore I moved along.” Daryl continued, looking lazily to the side with a notch of shyness, completely contrasting his exterior but all so suiting in a way, matching the warmth he had seen in those eyes, Rick decided.

“When I’s finally done with fetchin’ new pairs, gettin’ our beer ‘n was on m’way back, I chanced a look ‘n ye were still there, waitin’ from t’looks ‘f it. Ain’t like I had planned any ‘f it, got t’ m’truck an’ was packin’ my shit away ‘n I remembered ye waitin’, so’s I went back ‘n still no date. I mean, I’s assumed ye were waitin’n some gal’.” Daryl said and it was Rick’s turn to turn his eyes away, feeling slightly bad for making this man go out of his way because he’d been left hanging. Rick reminded himself this Daryl had said he _wasn’t looking_.

“So, who’s t’ sorry chick missin’ out’n this nice evenin’?” He followed up with, bringing Rick’s eyes up to conversation level again.

“Ah, her name is Lori, we pretty much dated back in high school, took her to prom and all but I moved here and she stayed. Now years later she was coming to town to stick around, I was so sure she wanted me to ask her out and so I did, it was Lori right? So we decided on dinner here a week ago but well, you know the rest.” Rick explained and swore by the twitch of Daryl’s lip he was about to slip a comment about some stupid bitch or something but he held it in. Rick oddly didn’t mind.

“Well I ain’t complainin’, sucks fer ye but beats my evenin’ of gettin’ home t’my loud ass brother watchin’ re-run’s ‘fore he tries t’pull me out t’a bar.” Rick chuckled at that, he knew he’d thought the altered evening could be fun, but now he was getting pretty sure that he was going to have a good time.

“Her loss right? So, what do you do for a living Daryl?” Rick asked and it was his turn to taste the wine while he waited for the profession he could probably guess by the smudges and Daryl’s physique. He couldn’t see it all, the man wore a button down himself, probably once upon a time it had been completely black but had been washed enough times to fade into a meek gray with a couple of tears to it, added the leather west, but he looked like he definitely did something physical for a living.

As if to add a little game to it all Daryl waited on answering, opting to raise his hands instead and give Rick an unknown amount of time to take his most obvious guess, slight tweak adding flavor at the corner of his lips like he was teasing Rick for not just coming out to state the obvious.

“Right, mechanic or something like that, I mean you could actually be a welder too. Maybe both, wait do mechanics weld too?” Rick asked, realizing although he had general knowledge he was severely lacking in the area. They weren’t like banks who got robbed or offices that laundered money and put on scams, maybe a few strip downs on stolen vehicles but that hadn’t ever been in his department.

“Yea we do. What about ye?” He confirmed and followed up on the standard ask and get asked taken straight from the dating 101 tutorial book, really making it out as a staged back-up date.

“What no guessing?” Rick teased back and watched how Daryl propped himself back against the chair like Rick was playing unfair.

“Ye ain’t exactly covered ‘n grease.” Daryl said and although Rick had been told by the very same man that the guy wasn’t looking, he was pretty sure some kind of nasty imagination was passing through the head across the table. Still if the man had at any point lied to him about not having ulterior motives, he would have been more discreet so more or less he was just window shopping? The thought was a bit flattering. And he wasn’t anything but forthcoming in his answers, openly telling Rick the kind of shit other people would rephrase to sugarcoat or not mention at all because it was embarrassing, if he was trying to catch Rick by hook line and sinker despite the challenge of him being straight, Rick would assume he’d have tried to make a better impression.

“Fair enough, I’m a cop and have been for about.. wait what’s that look?” Rick started confessing before he watched Daryl experiencing an _oh shit_ moment unfolding, well somewhat until he managed to get it under control but it hadn’t been in time to save him from Rick asking, and now he was growing genuinely curious.

“Yea sorry, this just ain’t gonna work out.” He jokingly said and shrugged like he was breaking the most fake confession in the world in courtesy of their fake date and their fake breakup.

“Oh common you have to tell me now, what was with that look?” Rick refused to let it just slide as a passed off joke.

“Right, lessay t’law ain’t exactly been friendly, bad experience ‘s all.” He replied a bit too vague and elusive for Rick’s taste but he figured it was maybe stepping beyond their fake date’s limit on personal, maybe he’d had something akin to a frown when Daryl spoke again to clear things up a little.

“Don’ worry, ‘s jus’ petty thug shit, sometimes some fights, sometimes ‘cus we’ve been drinkin’, usually both, ain’t so bad nowadays. Not like we’re crime lords or anythin’.” He said to state his case and Rick supposed it really wasn’t that bad. People got drunk and people fought, that wasn’t anything new, but he supposed Daryl meant he could be a bit more than the average aggressive in those scenarios and he did look the part. Daryl continued with another question, seeing how they still had some time to kill and he successfully diverted Rick’s attention.

“Said ye moved’re, where ye from?” He asked.

“King County, just south of Atlanta.”

“Geez an’ what, ye an’ missy still didn’t keep ‘n touch?”

“No we had kind of broken up before I even moved, she didn’t really approve of my application to the police academy.”

“’n now she’s fine with ‘t?”

“Didn’t get a chance to find out did I? Well, she did call me, so more than before at least. Now what about you, you’re not from the city I take it?”

“Nah, south of Chatsworth, close ‘nough to town ‘n all.”

“Wow, yeah that’s a bit further than my move, how long ago?”

“I dunno, maybe six years ago, ‘n still ain’t accustomed t’ big town life.” He shrugged once more like he was bothered by it but he had still lived here for six years and if he’d really wanted to move he probably would have by now and he hadn’t been spending his evening at a random restaurant, with a man he was just getting to know, who also was a cop, which accordingly to Daryl wasn’t the kind he, possibly his brother too since he’d used _we_ , associated with. But Rick could see where the thick accent came from, so well practiced into the muscle of tongue that six years in the city couldn’t break it down.

“Why law?” Daryl asked.

“Hm, I mean I’ve always admired those who help people and my dad was a cop so I kind of just ended up following in his footsteps, haven’t regretted it once. You?”

“Fair enough. Me mhm, spent ‘lot ‘f time tinkering ‘n t’yard with t’broken shit, guess I figured out how t’read engines.”

“Not fair enough, I suffered through books of law, it was torture.”

“But ye succeeded, ‘ere some credit right ‘ere.” Daryl said and Rick clicked capture while he had it, little by little the tiny smile Daryl sometimes had would increase, finally revealing a short second slimmer of teeth at his reassuring comment. Okay so he was getting a little invested, he could feel that, maybe he should go for a blind date next time, living through this whole randomized and unknown was pretty exciting and educational in terms of experience.

The conversation had continued to flow like a gentle stream, there had been no pressure to take in, evaluate what you knew and build a front you thought the other person would have liked to see. It was actually comfortable for a change, he didn’t have to feel nervous or worry about the process and he found himself laughing and smiling more than he had at any other dates since he and Lori had broken up. Rick came to the realization that no matter how much he thought he would just be himself throughout a date, he’d been tempering with his filter, little innocent white lies to make the game change. With Daryl though he didn’t feel that detached slimmer of lie, especially not when their food arrived and he watched the man eat like he really was what he had said, starving.

The meal had been delicious for Rick too, there was always the risk of the fish being dry when you ordered it but this place had managed to keep the fish soft and juicy, added perfectly with the dressing. Rick had earned himself a kind hearted mocking snort when Rick had realized that he’d ordered fish despite the red wine and he’d resisted the urge to flick a piece of food across the table with his fork to hide his surprise that this gruff man cared about such a detail. So maybe he had been a little distracted by his surprise fake date that he hadn’t remembered he had red wine, sue him.

Now had he gone through with flicking a piece of fish he sure as hell would have earned their table another glare, maybe even closed them in to being kicked out before they finished their food. It would have been fine though, worth it even and still, even if he did earn that point, after the dress code and the lack of table manners, Daryl was still leading the score by 2-0 and it wasn’t the kind of competition you wanted to win.

He looked like the beer and whiskey type of guy, Daryl, yet then there had been that touch of finesse, well until he had admitted that wine was okay but he didn’t drink much of it, only that it was general knowledge he’d read in some petit magazine. Then he had huffed a somewhat laugh at Rick’s expense.

Along with talking through and around bites of food Rick learned a various number of facts you normally went through on a first date. Daryl liked to hunt and fish, go for long trails because he’d done so all his life. He’d once tried to work with something different, but that if Rick ever caught him in an office he kindly requested Rick would pull him out before he trashed another desk and computer.

He didn’t like places to be cramped, was what had followed after his failed attempt in an office, his favorite colors were dull ones with the occasional contrast, like a forest he had said. His favorite food was meat but nothing specific in particular and he enjoyed every other dish of pasta too, adding he was generally just too lazy to expand his cooking skills when all he’d mainly done had been frying up pieces of whatever he had hunted which to Rick, meant that he also didn’t waste his kills and he knew how to clean them.

Rick had responded with some more in depth questions to some of the answers, given his own answers like how he liked blue and that he’d worked at a café in his teens before he had graduated and moved. How he liked to read books, work out and had enjoyed wood crafting when he’d been younger, fishing too, but in the city life he just never got around to those things anymore.

He’d explained he was fine with the fact that some people were smokers when Daryl had admitted to being one, but hoped they were aware of the risks and that had followed with Rick’s personal story of the first and only time he’d tried to have one. He and Shane had been something close to fourteen and Shane had stolen a cigarette from his aunt when she had visited and pulled Rick out out to the woods to try it, being sneaky and everything about it. Rick had ended up so nauseated he’d had to go home, after a large coughing fit and an hour of throwing up while taking a scolding from his mother because he had obviously smelled like a shit ton of smoke.

Their most embarrassing moments had been that Rick had spent three weeks trying to learn classical dancing just to take Lori to prom and after a light threat that if that ever left their table, he would hunt Daryl down and make sure no one ever found him, he admitted to having enjoyed dancing. Then he enforced his threat with being a cop and all. They had chuckled somewhat before Daryl had dug around in his brain with Rick actually being able to see the cogwheels turning to find the most suited memory for the task.

As it turns out, waking up in an alley could be bad enough of a story as it was, but Daryl’s involved a black splotch for a memory and the clothes he had been wearing the night before had been replaced by a ripped and obviously not well fitting for a man of Daryl’s size, cocktail dress in pure black. Rick had burst out in laughter, drawing the attention of the neighboring tables because as Daryl continued, he’d been forced to try and sneak through the streets wearing that while trying to dive through a couple of dumpsters in which he’d at least found a thrown out hoodie but no pants. After the task had proved too difficult to conquer though, he said he had just given up and said fuck it all, marching his way home in the bottom of a cocktail dress sticking out under the hoodie, earning himself more than just a couple of stares on his brave journey home.

They had emtpied the last of the wine into their glasses after consuming all the food, slowing down on the red sweetness just to enjoy some more conversation, some about cars and what they drove and Rick admitting he didn’t have much of a clue regarding them but he enjoyed different models and sometimes he’d read a motor magazine. Rick had already assumed but with the motor talk going he learned Daryl also drove a motorcycle and was pleased with the fact that Rick shared that he used to ride and how he remembered how he loved the feel of it. He had said that the bike was still at his dad’s house in King County because it was originally his. When Daryl had asked if his dad still chased the wind and Rick had shook his head, he had said that maybe he would go back home sometime soon and bring the bike over to Atlanta since his dad wasn’t using it anymore.

Daryl had told Rick about all the bones he’d broken from falling during mischievous footings in the terrain or silly spats with his brothers, explaining that it wasn’t exactly just loving bickering when shit really hit the fan, that neither of them would pull their punches. His big brother had done other stupid shit too, the classical older sibling coaxing like _of course he could jump that far_ or _he used to climb that steep all the time when he had been Daryl’s age_. He’d been eager to impress his brother, Daryl had said, all the while cursing said brother’s name under his breath. Merle and Daryl then.

Still he’d softened somewhat, given that small little shy smile and also told Rick about the story of the flesh eating spiders his brother had told him when he was young enough to not know better, how his brother had a quick song to call on the invisible monsters who could reach Daryl anywhere except on Merle. Whenever he’d sing that tune and call for them, Daryl explained, he would climb desperately onto his brother and hold on for dear life, it was the only safe place where they couldn’t eat him and Merle would promise that he was safe. Luckily Daryl had grown up and smacked his brother for tricking him and luckily he hadn’t suffered any late on phobia of spiders.

Rick was regretting that their wine was running out because he’d needed more while he was imagining Daryl as a young boy clawing for his life, he did laugh though and Daryl feigned hurt across the table but though he had feared the spiders as a child, he seemed fond of the memory now. Rick sunk into the view, just watching, curious and wanting to know what more clutched to it but as Daryl moved on from the topic, he thought maybe another time.

Maintaining the topic of family, Rick learned Daryl only had his brother while his parents got marked as deceased, before Rick even had time to offer his condolences Daryl had said it was fine and that they hadn’t exactly been what you called proper parents but he didn’t go into detail. Rick told him he had a sister back in King County, along with his mom and dad and told Daryl a little bit of what they were like when he’d asked.

There were some talk about music and although they were a little different in their taste they shared an interest for classical rock and Daryl admitted to some of Rick’s country choices to not being completely wrong every now and then. Rick had agreed he would look into this metal that apparently wasn’t just noise which was Rick’s first guess from his experience so far, Daryl had promised on his and his brothers life that he wouldn’t recommend anything too heavy since Rick would be a beginner.

When they ran out of wine they started to wrap the fake date up, even got to do their check dance when the waitress came looking somewhat happy, possibly because the two of them were about to leave. Rick had been first to reach for it, intercepted by Daryl and they did the play in a classical manner because that had been the deal, Rick found himself enjoying even such a planned event. Although Daryl had insisted on no bullshit afterwards, saying the wine had been a game changer and he’d add extra for it. Rick had first declined, saying it was no biggie at all and he’d meant it, ignoring the snarky comment about a cop’s salary.

“Tell ya what, we over pay, same bill an’ leave t’rest fer tip.” He said and glanced at the check to do some rough and half assed calculations, honestly it didn’t seem like too bad of an idea, they could make a nice gesture at the end of it.

“So’s a very generous tip ‘cus we’re nice dudes alright?” He asked.

“Why not, it would solve our problem right?” Rick smiled, appreciating being called nice and so they both pulled out their wallets and proceeded with their plan.

“Alright, ye don’ have a jacket, ‘therwise this would be t’part where I hold it up fer ye.” He said, keeping up with the classical steps of a normal date as he got up from his chair with Rick following his lead amusedly at the jacket comment, noticing they were pretty much of the same height as they walked out from the restaurant.

“So I did bring my car like you guessed but.” Rick started, watching Daryl slide his head in his direction, nibbling lightly on his lip and Rick realized it sounded a little too real for their fake date.

“But this would be t’part where I drive ye home.” He seemed to decide before Rick could even try to blabber embarrassingly to smooth over his sudden comment. Rick ducked his head, keeping his smile on a leash.

“Yeah.”

“This way then.” Daryl smiled and brought Rick along for the walk, keeping a secure distance between them that wasn’t too far but not too close either, just sort of respectful of Rick’s straight key detail in the story of the fake date.

“You can smoke you know, I don’t mind.” Rick said, barely having finished his sentence before Daryl groaned thankfully and pulled up a stick from a pack stashed in his pocket. He lit it up and inhaled deeply, looking like he’d craved that rush for a long time and Rick felt his chest flutter when Daryl twisted his lips to direct the exhale to the opposite side of where Rick was, _thoughtful_ he noted.

“So you said you weren’t looking, why is that?” He asked, curious about the early comment from the evening.

“Shit, I even have t’explain? Ain’t exactly a catch, I got sum awful batch ‘f nasty baggin’ up with me, jus’ don’ work.” He explained, or more like he tried to get through the question by muttering and hoping half of it would go unnoticed.

“What so you’ve never been like, serious with anyone?” Rick continued because he’d tweaked his ears to peak performance and he’d heard every single word of it.

“Ain’t ever even been ‘n a real date.” He bemused and Rick felt his eyebrows rise upwards in surprise, well he sure as hell knew how they worked and how they were executed.

“Could have fooled me.” He teased and widened the step he was taking to nudge his shoulder into Daryl’s in a playful manner, felt how the body twitched at the contact before giving them an extra four inches of distance. Rick thought he’d felt the mood to be right, but other than the handshake they hadn’t exactly explored in anything physical, _baggage_ Rick reminded himself because that had clearly been a moment of discomfort.

“I tend t’watch a few chick flicks ‘n TV when I’s bored, no judge.” He defended himself, lightening the mood back up, looking a little guilty for how he had reacted, as if telling Rick it wasn’t his fault and he shouldn’t be thinking it.

“I would not have expected that, but hey I thank the chick flicks then.”

“Yer such a shitter, Lori ain’t go no idea what she be missin’ out ‘n.” He said and Rick supposed that no, she didn’t, but then again he hadn’t ever been feeling this right while being out on a date either, they had felt okay but even back with Lori, Rick was sure he’d adjusted himself to suit her. Tonight’s dinner had been just him, being who he was and letting that side of him run freely while having someone to see it all and still look at Rick like they wouldn’t have him any other way.

“Now you’re just trying to flatter me.”

“’s ‘t workin’?”

“Not telling, but I am going to rate this fake date a 10/10, we had the get to know you talks, the romantic dinner mood, we’ve laughed and eaten good food, you’re about to drive me home and drop me off like a proper gentleman and maybe.” Rick lingered on the maybe, was it too weird even for him? No, it was all a fake date, he could live a little. So he held his hand palm up, inching it closer to Daryl for him to see it and offering it forth after taking a quick look around. They were still in Atlanta but lucky for them their street seemed to have calmed down to a cozy doze. Rick had a second to worry that he’d gone out of line, well for the sake of Daryl’s _not looking_ because if Rick understood it right he was the only straight one and he was possibly making things complicated. But then he felt the tingle when Daryl’s hand snuck into Rick’s offered one, entangling their fingers gently like he finger by finger made sure he had permission to do so, feeling the slight tremble to the tips of them and Rick just kept his gaze ahead, feeling the silly smile on his face spread down to his stomach.

“Hand holding complete.” He said as they kept walking down the street. Rick had feared that the silence that had ensued would be awkward, but it wasn’t. Surrounded by the dim city lights, the dull noise of distant cars and the tip of Daryl’s smoke wheezing at every drag he took from it, it was all so serene.

If Rick closed his eyes he would probably feel like he was walking through the woods that Daryl loved so much, woods he had yet to admit to the man, that he had loved too in his youth in the small town of King County. Being surrounded by the lullaby of nature instead of buildings, cars transforming into the chirp of birds, he could almost smell the mossy earth when he realized he somewhat could, mixed with the oil and smoke and he chanced a discreet glance at Daryl because he was surely the source of it.

They reached his car after another five minutes of enjoyable silence, every now and then their fingers would unconsciously adjust themselves, responding to the other and when they parted their limbs Rick could still feel his hand brimming with warmth. Following through on being the gentleman of the scenario, Daryl had walked Rick around the car and opened the door for him. He hadn’t lied that it wasn’t a fancy car, in fact Rick was surprised it was still alive but he felt the same smell inside of it as he had walking next to Daryl, and without knowing it he relaxed into the seat while inhaling a memory full of scent into his system for the short moment he was alone in there.

Rick had steered clear of any baggage possible topics after the walk. If the restaurant had been about talking and the hand holding walk to the car had been the silence, the mid position of the two would be the car with the light topics every now and then and the calm blissful quiet in between. Rick had given him the directions towards his apartment building, saying he’d been lucky when he got a hold of it. The size was decent and it had been freshly renovated, it had been the right place at the right time kind of situation. Daryl had told him about his place on the outskirts of Atlanta, a bit secluded but it was located close enough for a five minute drive to the store to purchase emergency snacks, usually tossed upon him at the mercy of his brother’s endless complaints over a hung over.

Maybe Rick knew he logically should have re-considered directing a stranger to his house, the possibility of making enemies as a cop wasn’t exactly zero but then again Daryl had felt nothing but honest, even if it was a fake date it didn’t mean that the man was and Rick trusted his gut when it told him Daryl wasn’t some dangerous criminal with vengeance in his heart to murder Rick on his _welcome home_ door mat, so he had gone with it.

Daryl had proceeded with the rules of a date when they had reached Rick’s apartment building. It was a one story building version of it that had their separate entrances instead of clumped up high floors with doors on the inside with hallways. He had walked around the car after getting out and opened the door for Rick to step out, clearly he was the lady of the dating experiment but he frankly didn’t mind at all, rather it was kind of nice being tended to. As Rick got out of the car he started to notice the nervous telltales Daryl had kept under control for most of their fake date, more nibbling on his lips and some fiddling with fabric, it was actually kind of cute as Daryl walked him up to his door.

“You know I actually had a really great time tonight, pretense or not.” He said as they stopped just before the door, he wasn’t lying, he really had and he even had the flutter in his chest building up the excitement on how it all would end, almost as if he was looking forward for something.

“Yea, me too.” Daryl said, delaying himself to preserve their moment.

“So this is the part where we say good night?” Rick asked, hearing himself actually sounding shy when he had no reason to be. Shit, hadn’t it all actually been just perfect? It had felt right, relaxing, enjoyable and his hand was still warm even after the car ride, his stomach was still controlling flip flops like okay shit, he was honest to god feeling something.

“I guess ‘t is.” Daryl lingered, shifting his weight while he prepared for their good bye and Rick realized he didn’t actually want it to be a permanent good bye. After learning about the shift of mood at his shoulder tease, he made sure Daryl saw his hand coming before he affectionately curled his finger around the greased and roughened up skin of Daryl’s.

“You know, I think I may be going way out of my comfort zone with this but, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if this wasn’t a hoax, maybe since you know where I live now if.. if you felt like it, we could rewind and go again, for real this time. Maybe at suitable day next week, perhaps you could pick me up on Friday, and maybe you’ll even tell me your last name, maybe you'll even be looking.” Shit how he did not stumble and stutter his way through the sentence, he had no idea, it sure as hell all jumbled up like a clusterfuck in his mind afterwards.

“Shit, man I wouldn’t want ye t’be uncomfortable, ain’t exactly yer crowd an’ yea, after tellin’ me ye was a cop I figured ye’d abuse yer badge an’ look me up if ye knew.” Daryl responded, sounding all mixed up like he really wanted to but wasn’t ignorant of the fact that Rick was still very much straight and the hoax deal of the date had been the only solid rule which had made it all work. Shit he was so cute it was making Rick’s heart hurt.

“If we’re following protocol though, this is the part where you kiss me good night.” Rick felt the blush spread on his cheeks but it was all kinds of pleasant, not at all uncomfortable, challenging his zone yes, but he never even felt an ounce of regret after saying it when he saw Daryl’s hooded eyes slide up to his, the nervous bite on his lip like he was trying to figure out if Rick was screwing with him. So Rick just smiled, there was no way he was taking anything back with eyes upon this canvas of warmth and care right in front of him which made him feel the air he was breathing coarse through his body.

Then he watched a flicker flash through those blues and it made his stomach boil, felt the shift of his presence as Daryl carefully reached his free hand up to caress it on the side of Rick’s neck. His skin burned under the touch, his world stopped and swayed him across a still mirror surface of a lake. They had become isolated in their own shared silence, in their own anticipation and then Daryl finally leaned in and their lips met, Rick closed his eyes feeling the taste of beef, smokes and woods, everything he had been able to imagine if he’d let himself before. Rick’s heart beat a pace faster when he heard the echoing click he had always been looking for.

It was perfect and Rick even dared feeling his knee’s going weak as their rules of pretense slowly shattered through the kiss breaking them out of their charade, it was real.

“’s Dixon, Daryl Dixon 'n I guess I may change m'mind 'bout lookin'.” He breathed as their lips parted yet they maintained their close proximity to one another, Rick smiling like a goofball while he relished at the feel of the warm breaths in their enclosed space.

“Now it suits to tell me huh.” He teased before he surprised himself by claiming those lips for his own once more, it was slow and buzzing, doing crazy things to his chest and he was loving every bit of it.

When they parted again it was for the last time and that was okay, everything was fucking okay and both of them relished in the shyness that came afterwards, pulling away just enough to try and gather themselves, ducked heads and smiles on their lips.

“So, good night then Daryl Dixon.” Rick said as he felt Daryl’s fingers permit themselves one last caress of skin before they retracted from his neck.

“Yea, good night Rick Grimes.” Daryl said, he didn’t promise he would show up the next Friday but Rick knew he would when the man stepped back from their locked positions that had depraved them of the world surrounding them, he knew when Daryl didn’t turn to leave before catching one more look at Rick, shy smile on his lips and the slight nod with the tip of his head, it was all Rick needed before Daryl eventually did turn and made way for his car.

When Rick shut the door behind him he slumped his back onto it, with shoes still on with the keys in his hands, resting against it still smiling. Absently he remembered his phone and reluctantly pulled it out of his pocket, seeing one message from Lori and even through her sorry excuse and promise to make it up to him another time, he just kept smiling and pushed the button to turn the screen off, ignoring her message and putting the phone back into his pocket.

He was way out of his comfort zone but shit, he was so screwed.


End file.
